BLOOD CEREMONY "The sound we're going for in Blood Ceremony is a cross between Black Sabbath and early Jethro Tull. And we enjoy listening to various styles of heavy music from the early '70s including English prog, folk, heavy psych, and most dark and fuzzy rock 'n roll." Toronto's Blood Ceremony are anti-war, but pro-horror. Standing before the crimson altar, their minds melted as they gazed into the cosmic eye. Now Blood Ceremony slay the stages of the universe with heavy riffs, paranoia-inducing trills and '70s fills. "We're currently recording our self-titled first album that will be released on CD/LP by Shadow Kingdom Records in 2007", says guitarist Sean Kennedy. Words | Sean Blood Ceremony is devoted to all aspects of cinematic Euro-trashanalia, '60s saturnalia and occult miscellanea. The band's name was adopted from the 1972 Spanish-horror film, "Ceremonia Sangrienta." This adaptation of the Elizabeth Bathory legend is heavy on atmosphere and dread, with stunning visuals and a bleak conclusion. In 2005, after a slow period of gestation that involved watchinga mind-numbing series of trashy witchcraft films, Blood Ceremony began writing and playing shows in the Toronto area. The line-up is: Alia O'Brien [Vocals, Flute and Organ] Sean Kennedy [Guitars] Jeremy Finkelstein [Drums] Chris Landon [Bass] The sound we're going for in Blood Ceremony is a cross between Black Sabbath and early Jethro Tull. And we enjoy listening to various styles of heavy music from the early '70s including English prog, folk, heavy psych, and most dark and fuzzy rock ‘n’ roll. The doomy vibes are inherited from early Pentagram and Bedemon and mixed with generous helpings of British folk as well as any interesting band that used the flute as a major instrument [Culpepper's Orchard, Los Dug Dugs]. Blood Ceremony> Albums of Influence... Black Widow - "Sacrifice" [1970] This album was a revelation upon first listening. The whole satanic vibe the band gave off was powerful. The tribal drums that begin "Come to the Sabbat" invoked images of a rural pagan ritual. Some of the songs break down into surprisingly funky jams, with Clive Jones'impressive flute work and Zoot Taylor's excellent organ. Jethro Tull – "Stand Up!" [1968] With Ian Anderson's wild stage antics and flute virtuosity, this band had an incredible energy! Watching footage of Tull playing at the Isle of Wight proves beyond any doubt how incredibly heavy this band was. The production of this album is great; in particular its dull and heavy guitar tone as well as the out-of-the-pocket drum fills and manic flute digressions. We have covered "A New Day Yesterday" live a few times. Pentagram – "First Daze Here" [2001] This collection of Pentagram singles and demos from the early '70s is a legendary doom release. Every song on this is killer! Pentagram perfected a lazy and heavy style of rock that certainly borrowed from contemporaries, but was wholly original. The evil tone of "Review Your Choices" with Bobby's sinister vocals could only have come from this band. This collection is the primary musical inspiration for Blood Ceremony. Blood Ceremony> Movies of Influence... Gothic movies such as the Hammer films and many other '60s / '70s horrors are fun and create an atmosphere that is very inspiring for us. We also like head films, with Jodorowsky’s "El Topo" being a definite favourite. This movie is a total mind-fucker with religious imagery, jarring edits and brutal violence. Coming across like a psychedelic Spaghetti Western, "El Topo's" success began the whole midnight movie craze. Another film that is highly inspiring for its imagery is Kenneth Anger's magnum opus, "Lucifer Rising." Shot in various locations around England and Egypt, the original version was buried somewhere in the California desert, allegedly by the Manson Family. In Lucifer Rising, occult images and bizarre rituals are underscored by the ever-looming presence of Aleister Crowley.